A Soothing Walk

At the end of my previous post, I mentioned that I went for a walk on Sunday (Nov. 19). My Mum and my sister were going to spend the afternoon together, so there was no urgent need for me to be there.

The rainy morning did not deter me; I took my little brolly with the fox print, a gift from my sister some years ago when we were in Ripon together and spotted it in a shop. Twice during that day I actually needed my umbrella, each time only for a few minutes until the shower had passed.

I took the local train to Marbach, which takes just over 10 minutes, and started my walk at the station at 12:05, leaving the town on the route my Mum and I used to walk so often when my parents still had their allotment near Steinheim.

It was windy, and the clouds were hurrying in the direction I was walking, with blue bits of sky and sunshine in their wake, so I was certain I would not encounter many more (if any) showers.

My Mum and I always liked that stone wall and the orchards in this part of the walk:

Coming out at the top end of that hill:

First view of Steinheim, where I was going:

Coming up to the first houses, what was that near one of the trees?

A black-brown fluffy cat, not at all interested in me but in the rustling of small animals in the grass:

Crossing the bridge over the river Murr to enter the small town properly; the river was not showing signs of the dry summer months anymore:

Steinheim has many such corners:

Now leaving the town, a long uphill stretch lay before me, lined with vineyards, some of them abandoned, others still working:

I reached the enclosure where my parents' allotment was. Today, not one single car was parked behind the locked gate. The weather was not gardener-friendly, and I would not have gone in anyway, even if the gate had been open.

The sun had bravely been trying to pierce through the clouds, and finally worked its magic over the land, lighting up Lehrhof, a tiny hamlet seen from the lane leading past the allotments:

The white building was where I wanted to go next. It is a place for seminars, deliberately far out so that the  there can completely focus.

Meanwhile, some other people had figured it was "safe" to go out and not get too wet:

The empty flag poles near the seminar building were lit up by the sun:

On I went...

The woods in the background were my next goal.

Silver birches:

But first, I needed to eat; breakfast was long gone, and it was nearing 2:00 pm. I perched on the driest part of a bench to eat my sandwich and chocolate bar and drink some water, with this view:

It was windy there and I did not want to stop for long, and soon made my way into the woods:

I have always felt at home in woodland, and this path was particularly beautiful. The woods here have a different character to the Black Forest, gentler and more leafy; each with their own beauty.

The path dipped into a valley, leaving the woods behind:

It then went uphill again and along the ridge opposite to where I had been walking before; if you know where to look, you can see the spot where I stopped for my late lunch:

Wide open skies always have a positive effect on me:

I walked through Steinheim again and left the small town at the same spot where I had entered it. The cat was still there, although now in a different orchard:

Nearing Marbach, this is a spot my Mum and I always stopped for breath after the first uphill bit:

A familiar view for me and my Mum:

I reached Marbach station with about 20 minutes to spare. Sitting on a bench was welcome after the 20 km or so of walking in about 3 1/2 hours I had walked. It was not yet sunset when I arrived home; I was a little tired but felt very calm after that soothing walk, and spent a quiet evening, talking to O.K. on the phone later and watching another episode of All Creatures Great and Small.